Artists prepare for Festival of the Arts in Oklahoma City

It was curtains for the Festival of the Arts setup Monday morning in downtown Oklahoma City.

Clear, plastic shower curtains to be exact. Armed with zip ties and a step ladder, Broken Arrow-based artist Rebecca Mannschreck hung curtains to make sure her acrylic paintings would be safe from any rainy weather. Mannschreck said she made sure to bring along a fan and a heater, too, because she’s had a booth at the Festival of the Arts for three years and knows what to expect.

Guadalupe Apodaca hangs his oil paintings as he arranges his artwork inside his booth for this year's Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City on Monday. Apodaca is from Scottsdale, Ariz., and said he has been showing his work off and on at the Oklahoma City festival since the early 1970s, before it moved to its current location on S. Hudson. Apodaca surmised this is probably his 15th time to have a booth at the Festival of the Arts. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Jim Beckel -

“Rain, sleet and snow I think is what they say,” she said with a laugh. “And then a lot of sunshine. A lot of good people, too.”

As the sound of rain slowly let up Monday morning, the clank of hammers in the festival’s sculpture park took its place. Dozens of artists were lined up along Hudson Avenue preparing for the 11 a.m. Tuesday opening of the Festival of the Arts. A few artists didn’t have to worry about the weather nearly as much as others.

Ron Schmidt’s artwork is made of nails. The Florida-based artist walked from his truck to his booth carrying a metallic palm tree.

“If you can’t see it, you can’t sell it,” he said.

Schmidt said the weather for the setup was a lot better than last year when it was below freezing. That didn’t stop him from returning this year though, and he’s looking forward to sales and the entirety of his seven weeks of touring with his art across the country.

Moore-based artist Mukesh Patel also didn’t let the weather slow him down either.

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